Groups Urge More Playing Fields

MADISON — Members of a number of youth sports organizations have made an impassioned plea to the board of selectmen for the town to consider using more of the Bauer Farm property for playing fields.

A committee appointed by the town to evaluate a number of recreational and naturalist preserve proposals recently completed its review and presented its recommendations to selectmen.

The land on Copse Road was donated to the town by the late Erwin Bauer.

Before a decision is reached, members of the youth sports organizations wanted to make sure officials heard their plea.

The Bauer Park committee is recommending, in a majority opinion, that ``the development of one practice field be considered on the westernmost portion of the property.''

Chip Frey, who has coached local ball teams for more than two decades, recently pressed the board to find purposes for the Bauer land that serve the most people. He said the fields in town are overused, not well enough cared for, and there aren't enough of them.

``We own the Bauer property. We, as residents in the town of Madison, are in dire need of safe playing fields,'' Frey said at the board of selectmen's meeting last week. ``Madison used to be the showcase of the shoreline, and we're losing that reputation.''

Frey said many of the proposals for the Bauer property are worthwhile, but serve only a small number of residents. Playing fields would benefit thousands, he said.

``It's a nice idea to have some other uses on it, but I think the main focus should be on fields,'' Frey said.

Stan Abramowitz, another coach and youth sports volunteer, echoed the sentiments expressed by Frey and several other sports representatives at the meeting.

Last year, a championship boys' baseball game had to be moved to Clinton, because the field in Madison wasn't safe enough, Abramowitz said.

``We had parents saying the field wasn't safe. It was embarrassing,'' he said.

Selectman Peter Pardo told the sports officials that nothing has been finalized yet with the Bauer property. He said selectmen are meeting regularly with the building and maintenance director for the town to keep tabs on field improvements.

He and First Selectman Thomas Rylander said the selectmen are aware of the problems with fields. Pardo said there are short-term maintenance solutions in the works, and long-term land purchase possibilities and equipment enhancements that will help reduce the problems.

Meanwhile, the selectmen are reviewing the recommendations of a number of possible uses for the property, all of which will ultimately be considered by town residents before anything is finalized.

The committee recently reviewed proposals for the land brought to the town by the New Haven County Soil and Water Conservation District in May. It has recommended that the soil conservation service work with the town as an adviser. But the town would maintain the site independently and a board of directors be put in place with authority to hire a park manager. The board of directors would help to create the long- term land use plan for the park, the plan says.

Robert Kuchta, the town's wetlands officer, is chairman of the committee. The committee's review of the proposals, which include a wildlife preservation and agricultural use, is only ``a first step in a number of steps that need to be undertaken,'' he said.

All the proposals have been reviewed by the Bauer Farm committee and listed in the packet to selectmen with advantages and disadvantages to the town.

A waterbird rehabilitation center, for example, was cited as a ``rich educational opportunity for the public, especially schoolchildren,'' but committee members said the request for up to 10 acres of the property is too much. The land left to the town is more than 50 acres and is already used for community gardening and trails.

The committee, however, liked the idea of a chestnut research and educational program. ``A chestnut orchard is consistent with the agricultural heritage of the property and provides a valued educational opportunity,'' the committee said.

The committee also showed enthusiasm for a forestry stewardship program, and an outdoor living classroom, except for the funds required to build a sugar shack. The season is short and the $30,000 cost is high, the committee said. If an organization or group wants to help with those costs, the sugar shack could be developed, the committee said.

An environmental education program for schoolchildren was strongly supported in the review. Such programs would be sponsored by the state Department of Environmental Protection and would include Project WET, Project Wild, Aquatic Wild, and Project Learning Tree, all of which are environmental learning programs.